Half Moon Bay

We arrived home yesterday evening after a fun weekend with our small group in Half Moon Bay.

We were slightly hesitant about going since it was so close to Anellah's surgery and she had gotten pretty whiny on Thursday and Friday morning. But we're glad we went because by Friday afternoon she was a happy little girl again and had fun with her three buddies (10 months, 22 months, and 3 years old). We even bundled up and went to the beach which she LOVED!

On the drive home we took a short jaunt to Pescadero so that we could visit Harley's Goat Farm. Then took the scenic route up Highway 1. It was a fun and relaxing drive.

Yesterday was Anellah's first pain-medicine free day which is exciting! Her hair is starting to cover her scar and the swelling has gone down enough that it's not super-obvious something happened to her. Her right eye still has some swelling which makes her eyelid droop, I'm hoping that will go away soon.

In other news- 

• Things are going well with Anellah's Mom. She has been very appreciative that we are "treating Anellah like your own kid" which is what we consider her to be. She has stated multiple times that she would not have been able to support her through the surgery process and is thankful we were there to do so. Legally Anellah's Mom does not have any rights other than what is written up in our adoption contract (one visit per month and two phone calls per month plus being updated about Anellah's health status) but as long as things continue to go well we feel that it is healthy for both Anellah and her Mom to keep in touch with each other more frequently than that. The next court date is set for February and there probably won't be any adoption updates/changes until then.
• I am thoroughly enjoying my maternity leave, although I haven't actually DONE much baby planning at least I have time to think about it and enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy. My belly continues to grow but I'm still relatively comfortable and would say I've had a pretty easy pregnancy! I'm even sleeping better now that I don't have so much stress and anxiety.